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Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
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Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
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Meet the people whose lives, choices and achievements shaped the journey.
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Wilmington, North Carolina once had a thriving Black middle class and an elected interracial government. In 1898 white supremacists used violence to overthrow that government, kill Black residents and drive many others from the city.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
Chuck Stone | |
|---|---|
 Chuck Stone | |
| Born | Charles Sumner Stone, Jr. July 21, 1924 |
| Died | April 6, 2014 (aged 89) |
| Education | Wesleyan University University of Chicago |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | United States |
Branch | United States Army Air Forces, Tuskegee Airman |
Conflicts | World War II |
| Awards | Congressional Gold Medal awarded to Tuskegee Airmen |
| Other work | newspaper editor, columnist, professor of journalism, author |
Charles Sumner "Chuck" Stone, Jr. (July 21, 1924 – April 6, 2014) was an American pilot, newspaper editor, journalism professor, and author. He was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II and was the first president of the National Association of Black Journalists, serving in office from 1975 to 1977.[1] Passionate about racial issues and supportive of many liberal causes, he refused to follow any party line, "but called the issues as he saw them."[2]
Chuck Stone was born July 21, 1924, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Charles Sumner Stone Sr and Madeline Chafin and raised in Hartford, Connecticut.[3] His father was a business manager for a nearby college, and his mother was a payroll officer for the Hartford Board of Education. Stone graduated from Hartford Public High School in 1942 with honors, and from there proceeded to go into the army.[4] Stone served in World War II, where he was member of the Tuskegee Airmen. He had already been admitted to Harvard University after completing his military service, but chose instead to matriculate at Wesleyan University, receiving degrees in political science and economics.[5] He was the first African-American undergraduate in several decades at Wesleyan, graduating in the class of 1948 and serving as the commencement speaker. Stone subsequently received a master's degree in sociology from the University of Chicago. After completing his education, he worked for the Chicago department store Carson Pirie Scott, serving as the store's first African-American executive. He then studied law for eighteen months at the University of Connecticut before spending two years in Egypt, Gaza, and India as a representative for CARE.[3]
Chuck Stone's career in journalism began in 1958, when his friend Al Duckett, then editor of The New York Age, hired him as a reporter, and then promoted him to editor. Stone also wrote articles for the Pittsburgh Courier and the Washington D.C. edition of the Afro-American before being hired as editor-in-chief of The Chicago Defender in August 1963.[6]
Years later, Stone worked as a columnist for The Philadelphia Daily News from 1972 to 1991. Stone was very critical of the Philadelphia Police Department's record of brutality towards African-Americans, which made him a trusted middleman between Philadelphia police and criminal suspects, more than 75 of whom 'surrendered' to Stone rather than to the cops.[2][7][8]
In 1975, he was the M. Lyle Spencer Visiting Professor of Journalism in the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.[9] He taught journalism at the University of Delaware for seven years,[10][8] and from 1986 to 1988 he served as the House Advisor for the Martin Luther King Humanities House at the University of Delaware. Stone later became the Walter Spearman Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he retired in 2005.
Stone was nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize, and was inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame in August 2004.[11] On March 29, 2007, Stone attended a ceremony in the United States Capitol rotunda, where he and the other veteran Tuskegee Airmen (or their widows) were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President George W. Bush in recognition of the Airmen's service during World War II.[12]
Stone was known for his passionate and bold personality. The New York Times refers to him as the "Fiery, Trusted Columnist"[13] and journalist Dennis Jackson once did a segment on him titled, "The Outspoken Mr. Stone."[14]
Chuck Stone became associated with the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power movement while working as an editor at Harlem's New York Age, the Washington, D.C. Afro-American, and the Chicago Daily Defender. He also served three years as a special assistant and speechwriter for Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. of the 22nd congressional district of New York, chair of the House Education and Labor Committee. In 1966 Stone was a member of a steering committee organized by Powell to discuss the meaning of the Black Power Movement.[15]
In addition, he often served as a mediator between criminals and the police for over 20 years. His most notable role was during the negotiation of the 5-day Graterford Prison hostage crisis of 1981, in which Stone entered negotiations on day 4 of a stalemate between escaped prisoners and 29 hostages. Stone served as a go-between and successfully negotiated the end of the stand-off, for which he "gained wide credibility."[16]
His book, "Black Political Power in America,"[17] analyzes ethnic political power as seen in the United States and encourages Black citizens to vote in a block in order to consolidate their voice in America, much as the Italians and Irish did in the past. This work, along with "Tell It Like It Is"[18] and his other articles, draw attention to the racial inequalities in America and advocate for change. On May 5, 2025 he was posthumously awarded a special citation by the Pulitzer Prizes.
Stone was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He was a member of the fraternity's World Policy Council, a think tank whose purpose is to expand Alpha Phi Alpha's involvement in politics, and social and current policy to encompass international concerns.[20] He was married to Louise Davis Stone for 49 years before they divorced.[21] They are the parents of Krishna Stone, Allegra Stone and Charles Stone III, creator and star of the Budweiser "Whassup!" television commercials, and director of movies such as Drumline, Mr. 3000, and Paid In Full.
Stone died April 6, 2014, at the age of 89. He was survived by his three children, one grandchild, and two sisters.[22][23] Bob Butler, president of the NABJ from 2013 to 2015, has named Stone to be the "guiding force behind the NABJ,"[24] and the key to the organization's longevity. Butler has credited Stone with helping to improve diversity in newsroom management, stating that "what (diversity) does exist is because of Chuck and the other founders of the NABJ."[25] The Chuck Stone Program for Diversity in Education and Media is a workshop for rising high school seniors at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media, formerly known as the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The program, which began in 2007, honors the legacy of Chuck Stone, who retired from the school in 2005.[26] The Chuck Stone Papers are housed in the Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library as part of the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University.[27]
In 2025, the "Pulitzer Prize" gave Chuck Stone a special citation: "A special citation is awarded to the late Chuck Stone for his groundbreaking work as a journalist covering the Civil Rights Movement, his pioneering role as the first Black columnist at the Philadelphia Daily News–later syndicated to nearly 100 publications–and for co-founding the National Association of Black Journalists 50 years ago."
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Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Charles Sumner "Chuck" Stone, Jr. (July 21, 1924 – April 6, 2014) was an American pilot, newspaper editor, journalism professor, and author. He was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II and was the first president of the National Association of Black Journalists, serving in office from 1975 to 1977. Passionate about racial issues and supportive of many liberal causes, he refused to follow any party line, "but called the issues as he saw them."
Charles, Charlie, or Chuck Stone may refer to:
Charles Stone III (born 1966) is an American film director. He is best known for Drumline starring Nick Cannon, Mr. 3000 starring Bernie Mac, and Paid in Full. Stone directed the video to "What They Do" by The Roots, featuring the group running through many rap video clichés. Stone is the creator of the popular advertising campaign "Whassup?" for Budweiser in 1999. In October 2008, he directed a spoof of this campaign to depict his critical view of the Republican Party's eight years in the White House and to support the presidential campaign of Barack Obama. A 1984 graduate of Central High School in Philadelphia, he is the son of Louise Davis Stone and journalist and Tuskegee Airman Chuck Stone.
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who was one of the pioneers of rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive with songs such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957), and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958). Writing lyrics that focused on teen life, consumerism, and music itself, and developing a music style that included guitar solos and showmanship, Berry was a major influence on subsequent rock music. Born into a middle-class family in St. Louis, Berry had an interest in music from an early age and gave his first public performance at Sumner High School. While still a high school student, he was convicted of armed robbery and was sent to a reformatory, where he was held from 1944 to 1947. After his release, Berry settled into married life and worked at an automobile assembly plant. By early 1953, influenced by the guitar riffs and showmanship techniques of the blues musician T-Bone Walker, Berry began performing with the Johnnie Johnson Trio. His break came when he traveled to Chicago in May 1955 and met Muddy Waters, who suggested he contact Leonard Chess, of Chess Records. With Chess, he recorded "Maybellene"—Berry's adaptation of the country song "Ida Red"—which sold over a million copies, reaching number one on Billboard's rhythm and blues chart. By the end of the 1950s, Berry was an established star, with several hit records and film appearances and a lucrative touring career. He had also established his own St. Louis nightclub, Berry's Club Bandstand. He was sentenced to three years in prison in January 1962 for offenses under the Mann Act—he had transported a 14-year-old girl across state lines for the purpose of having sex. After his release in 1963, Berry had several more successful songs, including "No Particular Place to Go", "You Never Can Tell", "Nadine" and the novelty song "My Ding-a-Ling"—his only number-one single. However, none of them achieved the same lasting impact of his 1950s songs, and by the 1970s he was more in demand as a nostalgia performer, playing his past material with local backup bands of variable quality. Berry was among the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on its opening in 1986; he was cited for having "laid the groundwork for not only a rock and roll sound but a rock and roll stance." Berry is included in several of Rolling Stone magazine's "greatest of all time" lists; he was ranked fifth on its 2004 and 2011 lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and 2nd greatest guitarist of all time in 2023. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll includes three of Berry's: "Johnny B. Goode", "Maybellene", and "Rock and Roll Music". "Johnny B. Goode" is the only rock-and-roll song included on the Voyager Golden Record.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Joe Louis.
